Training Day Movie Essay

361 Words2 Pages
In Los Angeles where streets are overrun by drug dealers, those who have sworn to uphold the law are breaking them to clean up the streets. L.A.P.D’s Lead Detective Alonzo Harris, a veteran narcotics officer whose methods of enforcing the law are questionable, if not corrupt. Jake Hoyt the rookie detective is on his first day of training with the narcotics team, so he follows Detective Harris as he goes over what the narcotics team is all about. Ethical dilemmas arise for officer Hoyt as he questions whether or not Harris' methodology for ridding the streets of South Central Los Angeles of drugs is right or wrong. Harris has Hoyt smoke weed, drink and steal money from people while they are on duty. Harris’s explanation for his tactics is let the “small fish go, in order to catch the big ones.” Officer Hoyt is passive about what is happening around him most of the movie. Every time Hoyt questions Harris about his way he handling the criminals and civilian they run into. Harris pulls his card by saying things like “are you a wolf or a sheep.” If you are a sheep then maybe you need to go back to patrol. Harris and Hoyt meet up with some of the other officers that are part of the narcotics team to rob an ex drug dealer that they knew had a stash of money in his house. After finding the money Harris divided some of it up with the other officers there. Hoyt declined the money which was ethical under deontological ethical system. He didn’t care about the other guys on the team judging him he didn’t want any part of the narcotics team if this is how it was ran. Harris did not like the fact that Hoyt didn’t take the money so he left him with some gang members to kill him. Hoyt got away and went after Harris at Harris’s house shooting at Harris while his son and wife were in the house. The way Hoyt retaliated was unethical under deontological ethical system. He
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